Enewsletter

Enewsletter • March 15, 2006

Notes
from Jon Camp

Approaching my six-week college
outreach tour through the south,
I had reservations about entering
a region known for staunch social
conservatism and close ties to animal
agribusiness. But what I found was
similar to any other region of the
U.S. -- students eager to consider
new information and deeply sympathetic
to the suffering of today’s farmed
animals.

My experience in the south was
not only decent; it constituted
the most successful, effective,
and meaningful six weeks of my life
thus far. In total, 34 schools were
leafleted and with volunteer help,
34,093 Even If You Like Meat
booklets [editor's note: more than
the entire first
semester of Adopt a College]
were personally handed to students
in Virginia, North Carolina, South
Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi,
Louisiana, Texas, Tennessee, and
Kentucky. I also gave a talk to
the animal rights group of the University
of Georgia and throughout the trip
handed out hundreds of Guide
to Cruelty-Free Eating
and A
Meaningful Life booklets to
those wanting more information on
vegetarianism and/ or animal advocacy.

Throughout the last month and a
half, I have detailed stories
of my interactions while leafleting.
But those stories don’t even scratch
the surface of the net impact created
by person to person college outreach.
In addition to the numerous individuals
who came up to tell me that they
were going to reduce or eliminate
their meat consumption because of
the booklet I had given them, Vegan
Outreach has received, and continues
to receive, vegetarian starter pack
requests and emails from southern
students profoundly moved to action
by the animals' desperate plight.

Perhaps
the most significant impact of my
tour was in getting other activists
to see firsthand the sheer effectiveness
of college outreach. Galvanized
by their positive experiences leafleting
campuses with me, dedicated activists
-- including Kit King of Birmingham
(at right), Eleni Vlachos of Durham,
and Casey Constable of Houston --
have already seized the opportunity
to leaflet their local colleges.
Success in reaching as many young
minds as possible with the animals’
plight hinges on those willing to
do the unglamorous -- but absolutely
vital -- person to person college
outreach in their respective communities.

Thank you so much to everyone who
housed me, who made the time needed
to leaflet for the animals, and
to everyone who contributes to Vegan
Outreach financially. We at VO,
including our indefatigable army
of volunteers, will continue to
work our hardest to make sure that
your generosity reaches as many
young minds -- and thus reduces
as much animal suffering – as efficiently
and effectively as possible.

Society is slowly but surely waking
up to the horrors that animals endure
as a result of modern food production.
Creating meaningful, concrete change
will take time, smarts, funds, and
diligence. But through our Adopt
a College program, Vegan Outreach
has created a means to shape history,
and to paraphrase Martin Luther
King, Jr., bend the arc of the moral
universe towards
justice. We are gaining momentum.
Please do what you can do today,
so that together, we can shape history
for the animals.

Sincerely,
Jon Camp

Vegan Outreach is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to reducing the suffering of farmed animals by promoting informed, ethical eating.